Sales promotion apparatus



Jan. 19, 1943. R. G. SIEVERS 293959723 SALES PROMOTION APPARATUS FiledJune 17, l1940 428 .I Ef Waaww" Patented Jan. 19, 1943 UNITED STATES yPATENT GFFI 2,308,723 sALEs PROMOTION APPARATUS Rolla G. Sievers,Valparaiso, Ind.

Application June 17, 1940, Serial No. 341,019

1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in a sales promotion system andapparatus therefor and it more especially consists Of the featurespointed out in the annexed claim.

The purpose of my invention is to provide cooperating apparatus thatwill promote the sale of merchandise; that will rapidly stimulate themovement of standard or special goods; that will encourage the desire tobuy; that at all times will give an .equivalent for every coin that isinserted in a cooperating vending machine; that for each coin inserted aticket or coupon is delivered which on its face indicates its redemptionValue exchangeable for certain indicated goods of the merchant of thesame retail value or cash as the coin which was inserted; that willprovide a single prearranged coupon in a selected group that will forthe same denomination of the coin inserted entitle the holder toexchange it for the merchants goods having a retail value at least twicethat of the coin inserted into the vending apparatus; that will providefor the recurrence of a special coupon in regular or irregular sequenceas desired; and that also will adapt my system to the disposal of goodsfrom conventional vending machines and with each article delivered willalso supply a coupon redeemable for the same value as the coin which wasinserted in the machine.. All coupons will bear a local advertisementand that of any sponsoring concern whose participation, independently ofthe merchants prots, through the sale of his goods, is of exceptionaladvertising value.

The mechanism is susceptible of almost unlimited changes. In one form itincludes preprinted tickets, regular ones with a special one separatinggroups of regulars, or any desired form of printing mechanism which,after the recurrence of regular imprints on the next operation of themachine, will print the next coupon as a special and will repeat thesequence over and over. The web or tape on which the tickets are printedmay come in the shape of a roll or they may be stacked in accordionfashion. In any event severing mechanism is provided to cut the tapeinto individual coupons for each coin inserted.

With these and other ends in View I illustrate in the accompanyingdrawing such an instance of adaptation as will disclose the broad ideaof the invention. I do not, however, intend to limit myself to thespecific details shown thereon and described herein.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective of the @Operating parts showing theunlocking, feeding, impressing, and severing features of my system.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation showing the relation of the tape and theknife for cutting the tape into coupon lengths.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the punch or impressing feature.

Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the locking and unlocking features.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the means for operating the impressor.

In the practice of my invention I may use whatever equivalents ofmechanism or alternatives of operation that the peculiarities of varyingconditions may demand without departing from the broad spirit of theinvention.

rJ'Che simplest form of my apparatus includes the following structurewith which a preprinted coupon web or strip I is used. It includes alower disk 3 and an upper disk 2. 'I'he two disks are interconnected bygears 4. The web passes through between the disks. The upper one doesthe feeding and if desired itrmay have a knurled or serrated face toprevent slipping of the web. The lower disk may be adjusted verticallyto secure any desired tension on the web (not shown).

The upper or feed disk has a shaft 5 on which there is mounted a ratchet6. This shaft also has mounted thereon a Worm 'I that meshes with a wormgear 8 which controls the impressing or punching operation. At the endofthe shaft there is a rock arm 9, movably loosely on the shaft, whichcarries a pawl or dog III that engages the ratchet 6. The rock arm isconnected by a link II pivoted to it between the shaft and the pawl. Itis connected to an extension I2 of the hand lever I3 which is pivoted ona spindle I4 for movement between a rear stop I5 and a forward stop II.A coil spring II is on this spindle. One end of it is secured to astationary bearing I8 and the other end to the operating handle. Thetension of this spring returns the handle from its extreme forward toits extreme rearward position. The handle has a short crank extension I9that is connected by a link 20 to a bell crank 2| suitably pivoted towhich another link 22 is attached. This link operates the severing knife23 which is pivoted beneath the web. It cooperates with a front edge ofa supporting plate 24 positioned above the web. The action of thepivoted knife is similar to the action of an ordinary pair of shears.

The knife is timed for action just at the end the hand lever I3.

lated portion 44 against which the coin 3 6 rests,

of the feeding period. The severed ticket or coupon 25 may drop into anykind of a receptacle.A

The shaft on which the feed wheel, the worm and ratchet are attachedpositions the worm 'I over a worm gear 8 with which it meshes in anydesired ratio so that the gear may make one revolution for each tenrevolutions of the worm or in any other ratio. There is a supportingspindle 26 for the gear. At its outer end there is a trip arm 21 whichactuates a punch link 28 that is fulcrumed about mid-way of its length.'Ihe other end of this arm is connected by a link 29 to a verticallymoving punch or impressorSU. This is normally held in its lowered 'orinactive position by a spring 3i in cooperation with a limiting stop 32.The impressor 3! has vertical movement in a downward projection of a'guide plate 33 on the underside of the web. A cooperating plate 34 isplaced directly above the Web so that the web is supported while theimpression is being made.

any desired form of conventional coin release may be used to unlock theoperating lever I3 Which on its return stroke becomes automaticallylocked until another coin is inserted. The severing and impressing meansmay be motor operated (not shown) under the control of an operatingswitch.

My device is not complicated. There are not many basically necessarycooperating parts. The web or tape may be stored in any desired manner.i It is passed through between the two disks in such relation that thebeginning or front end of a preprinted coupon would be under the centerof the feed wheel from Which point it will travel forward under themovement o f the wheel and the hand lever i3 until the arc of movementhas been Completed. This may approximate 60 degrees more o-r less. Itwill represent praetically 1/6 of the circumference of the feed diskwhich means that the ratchet will have approximately six teeth in itscircumference.

The circumferential travel of the disk 2 and the inter-related travel.of the disk 3 to the prearranged spacing of the imprint areas on thetape I may be adjusted in order to adapt the two speeds to each other,especially in relation to the starting point of the feed wheel 2 to thebeginning of an imprinted area on the tape. conventional form ofclamping screw adjustment, between the disk 2 and the toothed gear 4,may be employed (not shown). Ordinarily such'adjustment may not beneeded as the starting point of the feed wheel 2 in relation to thebeginning of an imprinted area may be set in coordination with theposition of the tape between the wheels 2 and 3 and to the position ofthe severing knife 23.

`The, operation of my device simply involves the deposit of a coin 36through a chute 31 which releases the hand lever i3. The coinv releasecomprises a pivoted hook-ended lever 38 pivoted at 39. It has anupstanding projection 45 that is beveled at its upper end at 4l) toengage the coin 36 and to prevent it falling until the magnet 4l incircuit #i2y draws the bevel 40 andthe projection 45 toward it andreleases the hook-ended lever S8 from the pin 43 thus freeing Thecircuit 42 has an insu- Any i hand lever is returned to its upwardlimit. A11

the operating `parts may be supported on any kind of frame assembled inany desired cabinet. The coupons may be preprinted as desired. 'I'heymay carry local or general advertising.

Regardless of the value of the coin to which the machine is adjusted fora specific user or merchant, every regular coupon that is delivered bythe machine entitles the holder to haveV it redeemed for the Same valueas the coin that was inserted. in eQOdS of the local merchant. or incash. Every special Coupon, may similarly be redeemable for a value atleast double that of the regular coupons in merchandise but not in cash.The coupons aside from advertising matter may have printed thereon anotice approximatingthe following:

This coupon has a redemption value in cash or goods, only at the storeadvertised hereon, of

the same value as the coin which was inserted. Y

Notice. Any coupon having an identification Si or otherwise on it,entitles the holder to exchange it, only at the store advertisinghereon, for goods at least to double the value of the coin inserted!)What I claim is: f

In a sales promotion apparatus of the class described adapted to feed atape or web having lengthwise preprinted duplicate ticket indicia.thereon which includes, a pair of Vfeed Wheels adapted to engage thetape therebetween, interconnected gears between the wheels, a feedingshaft attached to one ofthe wheels, a ratchet on such shaft, means formanually actuating the ratchet to, intermittently move the wheels tofeed the continuous length tape the. distance of a single, preprintedticket for each movement of the ratchet, a knife for severing the tapebetween each pair of preprinted tickets, means for actuating the knifesynchronously with each movement of the ratchet, a worm on the feedingshaft, a Worm gear intermeshing with said worm, a spindle for thev Wormgear, a trip on said spindle, indenting means. positioned beneath'thetape said means comprising a supporting plate above the tape directlyopposite the impressing means, means for actuating theiimpressorl by.said trip, once only for a predetermined number of ratchet movementsduring a cooperating movement ofthe circumference of the feed wheels toinclude a predetermined length of single tickets so that after eachgroup isv detached from the tape a single ticket bearing the, indentedidentifyin'g mark isL severed the time of such indenting and severingAbeing.V dependent on the, ratio of the Worm to the worm gear, whereby asingleinredemption tickets.

ROLLA G. SIEvERS;`

